SONG PREMIERE: The Grahams – “Gambling Girl”

Does knowing someone for your whole life make for better music? It certainly seems so in the case of The Grahams. The duo were friends as children before coupling up and eventually getting married later in life, and throughout all of that time they have been pursuing a love of music together. As The Grahams they craft Americana in the truest sense of the word, fusing American roots music of the past into something fresh and new. Alyssa and Doug Graham also have some damn good taste in who they work with. On their upcoming album Glory Bound, which drops May 19, the duo enlisted heavy-hitters like John Fullbright and the Turnpike Troubadours to help out. To coincide with the album release, The Grahams are also the subject of a new documentary called Rattle The Hocks. The film revolves around a live performance of the group while also focusing on their relationship with the railroad and American roots music. The real kicker is that it’s directed and produced by Cody Dickinson of North Mississippi Allstars, a prolific young musician in his own right, and features The Grahams playing with his brother Luther. We are excited to premiere a tune off that recording called “Gambling Girl”. To get a little insight we asked The Grahams themselves to talk about the song:

“Originally titled, “Delia’s Back,” “Gambling Girl” is a response to the traditional blues song “Delia,” which itself has two main variants, the country blues variant exemplified by Blind Willie McTell and of course the straight up country variant exemplified by Johnny Cash. The story varies in differing versions, but in all of them Delia is killed by her man, who narrates the tale. It seemed unfair to us (Bryan, myself and of course Alyssa) that Delia didn’t get to tell her side of the story. We started to have fun thinking what if Delia didn’t actually die? What if she just went underground, and spent decades hiding out, and decided to emerge now to tell her story? What if someone was listening? Around that time, Bryan was reading an article about trying to track down Geeshee Wiley and Elvie (LV) Thomas, two equally mysterious women in American musical history, and we began to imagine Delia as a woman like LV Thomas, who lived unknown on the poor side of Houston for decades. We moved Delia from Atlanta to Houston, and got ‘Gambling Girl.’” —The Grahams

Give a listen to “Gambling Girl”